oh no, not that, not here! [ male announcer ] antacids don't relieve gas. gas-x is designed to relieve gas. gas-x. the gas xperts. right now on "andrea mitchell reports," from congress to conservative think tank, what will senator jim demint's departure from the senate mean for republicans? following breaking developments from capitol hill. finding a fiscal fix. is a grand bargain possible before the end of the year? tim geithner tells cnbc the white house is ready to over the cliff if republicans don't budge on taxes. >> is the administration prepared to go over the fiscal cliff? >> oh, absolutely. >> alan simpson co-chair of the president's debt commission, says both sides are making a high stakes gamble. >> when you have leaders of parties and people of the

administration saying, i think it will be to the advantage of the democrats to go off the cliff, i think it will be advantage to the republicans to go off the cliff, or the president to go off the cliff, that's like betting your country. there's stupidity involved in that. syria on the bring. secretary of state hillary clinton holds emergency talks with russia as u.s. officials confirm reports that the syrian military is prepared to launch chemical weapons against its own people. >> we've made it very clear what our position is with respect to chemical weapons and i think we will discuss that and many other aspects. >> the whole world is watching. the whole world is watching very closely. and the president of the united states has made very clear that there will be consequences. >> plus, sharp criticism from afghan president karzai. the exclusive nbc interview.

why he says the u.s. is partly to blame for the growing instability in his country. and the duchess of cambridge leaves the hospital after being treated for acute morning sickness. her royal father-in-law couldn't be happier. >> i'm not a radio station? >> grandfather, that's splendid. that's great she's getting better. >> good day, i'm chris cillizza in for andrea mitchell live in washington. behind the bluster and the rhetoric, what happens going on behind the scenes in the budget negotiations? and big breaking news in this town. senator jim demint, a tea party favorite and conservative icon, is surprisingly resigning his seat at end of the year. join me to talk about all of it, chuck todd, nbc's chief white house correspondent, political director and host of "the daily

rundown and kelly o'donnell. chuck, to you. let's talk about not necessarily demint about what this means in the broader movement. he went to the face of the tea party movement, the face of it in the senate. it stunned me when i heard about it. what's your reaction? what does it tell us about the tea party and the conservative movement generally? >> what a leading member of the conservative movement said to me, which was, jim demint made the decision to resign his senate seat to become the ceo of the conservative movement. if there was a way to become a bigger player in the conservative movement, that is what you would do, resign your senate seat. think about that. if is -- it is -- and in fact, as jim demint's right -- but if you make this call where can you have the mosten fluence? you feel like the effort is leaderless -- and there's an argument to be made that it is -- better off working inside

the elected -- the elected claim ber of the united states stat or better off resigning and becoming head of the -- head of heritage? it was a no-brainer. you know -- >> remarkable. >> financial incentiveta. but it's remarkable and shows you limits in which being a united states senator -- i've talked to other senators who made the decision to try to get into leadership track who said it's no fun trying to be party of one or gang of six or gang of eight. it stinks especially ex-governors can't stand it in there. it is sad that you don't feel as if you can make a -- as big of a difference inside the senate as you can at a special interest group. welcome to politics of the 21st century. >> i couldn't agree more, chuck. frankly i think jim demint couldn't agree more. he said, i'm leaving the senate now but i'm not leaving the fight. i've decided to join the

heritage foundation at a time when the conservative movement needs strong leadership in the battle of ideas. chuck, to your point. kelly, i want to go to you. in the midst, and we'll talk about the fiscal cliff in a minute, about the midst of the fiscal cliff and who's doing what, this is a huge news story, dropped on capitol hill that seemed to take everybody by surprise. what's the reaction up there. >> reporter: the pieces that are less sprying look at the fact that republicans failed to reclaim majority, that always has an influence on how much power senators think they have if they're among the minority. jim demint said he would not seek another term. at some point there was a plan for him to forecast his future. the timing of doing it right now certainly caught people by surprise. but it also is a point where it tells you that he feels comfortable that the voice of objection on some things has been the seed has been filled here. he's got a mike lee of utah, rand paul of kentucky, who can fill some of the void that he

would be leaving. it really is also, perhaps, good news for someone like mitch mcconnell, he can with his own reelections coming up not have the counterweight of jim demint's considerable presence within the chamber. so there are some interesting aspects of this. it may also be good for the party, let's jump ahead a bit and the governor of south carolina, nicky haley, gets to appoint interim senator. might she choose someone who is also full of his tea party credentials, tim scott, a second-term about to be member of congress who is also african-american? you can make history by having the first african-american senator from south carolina. there is no african-american in the senate at present. so that might be a way to benefit the party as well. so there are lots of ways to look at this. certainly jim demint has done something he's quite good at, making headlines. >> kelly you, read my mind. chuck, do think the politics of the appointment, nikki nailly

will make an appointment. tim scott, african-american tea party credential. demint made clear in private to folks in south carolina that's who he wants. walk us through politics of an appointment and whether we're right to think scott's at the front of the line. >> it's bordering on strong arming nikki haley, i'm stunned how quickly this is a public movement where she is almost being boxed in to do this. even tim scott's statement was rather aggressive, if you will. ditto with jim demint and all of this. i want to say one thing on an aside. if i were a young political reporter i'd move to the state of south carolina. i think it's some of the best intraparty politics going on in america is in the south carolina republican party. nikki haley up for re-election in 2014, lindsay gray laey grah. nikki haley has to make a decision. she may make conservatives mad

if she doesn't do tim scott but if she doesn't do him and do a caretaker, chris, all the conservative action can be in that primary and maybe she doesn't get a conservative primary challenge. a lot of moving parts here. >> maybe lindsay gray lamb doesn't either. kelly, i don't want to leave the fiscal cliff out here. talk about a former senator who is making a lot of noise on it alan simpson, from wyoming. here what happens he had to say on the "today" show about who knows what about the fiscal cliff and the budget negotiations. >> these guys if you gave half of them -- gave 90% of them a profit and loss statement in one hand and a balance sheet in the other they wouldn't know how to read it. >> so, alan simpson not making himself the most popular among former colleagues. what is your sense? how well do the members who are going to be voting on the stuff understand, both what's in this deal or could be in the deal and what the consequences are? >> typically how this works out those with the most expertise are closest to the process of

the deal making, what might be on the table, off the table. and that seems to benefit all sides. people with the most knowledge of this. when it does come to the vote, which is the ultimate answer here, there can be a lot of that within the party arm twisting. it's fair to say that not every member of the senate, and certainly not every member of the house, has expertise on issues of this sort of magnitude. but there are all kind of held accountable for it, so they're learning shorthand. is it the kind of criticism from alan simpson does tweak people in saying they don't know enough about the real risks. one of the big issues on capitol hill always the unintended consequence. they vote for something and cannot foresee what might be a bigger problem later on. >> right. kelly o'donnell, chuck todd, a busy day for those of us who live capitol hill. thank you both for spending time. there's rapid response from the hill today, after word that one of its most prominent leaders of the tea party movement, senator jim demint,

retiring. joining me, one of his colleagues, senator john barrasso, chairman of the republican policy committee. i want to talk to you about the fiscal cliff. but, first, i want to talk about jim demint. >> sure. >> what is this say about the senate, about the ability of someone like jim demint, an avowed conservative, to accomplish what he wants to accomplish within that chamber, that he felt the need or saw the opportunity to step outside of the chamber? what does that say about the folk like yourself who are still within it? >> well, jim demint is going to continue to be a leader in this country for years to come. specifically on conservative issues. he's going to continue to push for ways to cut spending and to limit the size of government. and i welcome that. he's choosing to do it outside now rather than inside the senate but he's had a huge, positive influence on the senate and we're going to continue to see that for years to come. >> senator, this may seem like a simple question, but i wonder, and a lot of people do is the senate from your perspective, is

the senate a difficult place to be if you are someone who comes from executive background or someone committed to getting things done? is it a frustrating place to exist, day in and day out? >> i would say to you, i saw the article that you wrote earlier today, governors do -- who are used to having their own planes and flying around their states and controlling their own schedules do find it more challenging in the senate. i came from the state senate in wyoming. i enjoyed the opportunity to work with people on both side of the aisle to discuss the issues and continue to try to move proposals forward that i believe in about. i believe this is a place where you can make an effective difference in the direction of the country. >> now, let's shift to fiscal cliff. i want to talk to you about what another of your colleagues, tom coburn from oklahoma, had to say on morning joe about what should and should not be in the budget negotiations. let's play that and we'll come back and talk about it. >> i know we have to raise revenue. i don't really care which way we

do. actually i'd rather see the rates go up than do it the other way because it gives us greater chance to reform the tax code and broaden the base in the future. >> he would rather see rates go up than closing loopholes, reforming the tax code at the moment. do you agree with that stance from senator coburn? >> i agree we need increased revenue. our biggest problem is the spending issue. revenue is on the table but our big of the problem as a nation is the spending. we continue to spend too much, borrow too much. now the president wants unlimited and unchecked, unauthorized ability to raise the debt ceiling without having congress involved, though the constitution, article i, section 8, says constitution -- of the constitution says it is congress that makes those decisions. but the bottom line is, whichever you get it, the president seems fixated on this raising the tax rates, total money that that comes in is just a small drop in the bucket so the size of the deficit from last year alone. it's less than 10% of what we're

overspending. we now have 16 trillion in debt on the backs of our children and grand children. that is the biggest threat to our national security and nation's future. >> quickly, some republicans have whispered privately, some not privately, they believe president obama, the white house, congressional democrats, want to go over the fiscal cliff because they believe that it is more politically advantageous for them to do so. is that a sentiment you agree with or not? >> i believe that the president and the democrats see a political victory at the bottom of the fiscal cliff. i see financial problems for our country at the bottom of the fiscal cliff with unemployment over 9%, and another recession. i think -- i want to find a solution working with people on both sides of the aisle but when you have howard dean, the former chairman of the democratic national committee, you have patty murray, who ran the democratic senatorial committee encouraging going over the cliff i think it's irresponsible. i think we ought to have the president sitting down with john boehner, finding solutions that

can, one, pass the house, and, two, be signed by the president, and i believe if you find that solution, it will pass the senate. >> senator john barrasso, thank you for your time. >> thank you. >> next on "andrea mitchell reports" -- as the house heads home, are democrats in congress being left out of the budget talks? but first, fresh off his gangnam style premiere, alan simpson has a message for all of you kids out there. >> the young people aren't organized. the senior citizens are so well-organized they've got the aarp, committee for the preservation of the gray panthers, the silver head legislators, pink panthers. they are organized and they don't give a whip. this younger generation better learn to take part or get taken apart. wi srk cash card from capital one, sven gets great rewards for his small business! how does this thing work? oh, i like it! [ garth ] sven's small business earns 2% cash back on every purchase, every day! woo-hoo!!! so that's ten security gators, right?

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the house has ajusdjourned the week. connecticut congressman john larson joins me now, the house democratic caucus chair and a fellow native nutmegger. >> how are you? >> i'm well, thank you. i want to play something that the majority leader in the house, eric cantor, had to say yesterday to the white house about the budget negotiations and let's talk about it. >> where are the specifics? where are the discussions? nothing's going on. the people of this country are the ones that suffer. so we asked the president, sit down with us, be serious about the specifics of spending so we can stop the wasteful spending in washington and address the problem. >> so congressman, is that an accurate assessment? eric cantor saying nothing is happening? if it is accurate assessment, how worry are you about the deadline that's a couple weeks away?

>> well, to be charitable to the majority leader, that it's the specificity of his proposal is lacking itself. clearly, first of all, chris, as you know, congress has got to be here in order to work. and we've been in session the fewest times in the history of any congress in recent memory. and that, with the enormous task that we face in front of us of both putting country back to work, first and foremost, and then dealing with tax cuts for the middle class, which will create the kind of certainty that every single person of all stripe, whether in the middle class, lower middle or very wealthy, we have a bill waiting to be taken up in the house of representatives that the president will sign. and we can easily put people back to work address our infrastructure problems, underscore it by what happened in the northeast with sandy and the commitment between a new

jersey governor and the president of the united states, you know, that we can work together to rebuild the infrastructure, streamline regulations, jobs are neither democrat or republican. it's all about helping the american people out. but they're not here to do that. >> congressman, let me ask you this. house democrats, many democrats nancy pelosi and others have been vehicle toll say we don't need to give that much if there is a deal. that democrats they won the election, president obama campaigned on many things that he's pushing. one, do you agree? number two, what role, if that is the role of house democrats what role can house democrats play in influencing that process since this is being cast as president obama and john bain somewhere nobody else. >> the role that the house democrats have played all along that is we continue to put

forward an agenda that is acceptable to all sides. as i mentioned, jobs, first and foremost. back home, chris, they're not talking about sequestration. they're saying, look, why can't you guys get together and create the jobs that we need? only within the beltway do we become obsessed with this thing. they expect as adults we'll sit down and work this through. i believe that will happen. i believe the democrats, especially the house, have to remain crystal clear on what we're for. for the creation of jobs, for tax cuts for the middle class. these are something that both sides can agree to. and, yes, we have to address the long-term concerns, to quote paul ryan, that are underscored and addressed by the costs of health care in general. we're going to be able to do that when we get back. we should be able to cooperate on other things. the leader is right in saying this, look, in the budget control act we've already cut a

trillion dollars out of here. these are things that are artificially contrived and that's why we're dealing with it. the debt ceiling debate and debacle, never in our history, 17 times under reagan we raised debt limit. you know all of these facts. >> yes, indeed. >> indeed, i think what we need to do is continue to press the case, that's why we've got a discharge petition in front of us. we're not that far away from republicans wanting to sign on to this and get on with it and turn the page and come back in january and get after, you know, tax reform in general but also bending the cost of health care and reducing debt, having health care more accessible. >> optimistic note, i have to leave it there. you know you'll get me every time with connecticut references. thank you. >> you're welcome. next, lessons from the 2012 presidential campaign. we'll discuss some of the more delusional moments after the break.

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there were many lessons learned from the 2012 presidential came, importance of the hispanic vote and microtargeting. what were the delusional moments of the campaign? joining me is dave cantonese. a story in politico, i loved it. i want to do two, there are ten, people can read it, the first one is, the ames straw poll is relevant. that wound up not being true, why? >> i mean you,ed have had all of the advisers at post election conference saying it wasn't. michele bachmann put a ton of time, resources and that didn't turn into anything, as you well know. the governor has said it's irrelevant we should move beyond it. when you have governor of the

party saying we should move beyond it and the top consultants on the last campaign saying, yeah it doesn't matter, you know, i think it's probably losing its significance. >> michele bachmann won the ames straw poll and finished sixth, sixth in the iowa caucuses. the other one i thought was right on, saving money to advertise in october is a good idea. turns out not, why? >> this, i think, could have the most lasting impact going forward that will be interesting to see in 2016. as you well know, the obama campaign made an early decision to define mitt romney in may and june, coming out of the primary. went right into the states, sort of framing him as a plutocrat who didn't care about the middle class, mitt romney campaign reserved time for the fall, put $20 million into the fall but he was already defined. it ended up being too late. so the lesson is, going forward in 2016, will the real ad war

begin in may and june and we're not waiting anymore for post-convention labor day schedule. >> another point, you're exactly right, another point that's important, mitt romney, the primarily took more out of him than people realized in terms of money he wound up having donors maxed out couldn't do anything until he became the nominee. thank you for your time. next, syria readies chemical weapons as the crisis in that country escalates. former u.s. ambassador to nato nicholas burns joins me. plus, hamid karzai's tough message to the united states. the nbc news exclusive with the president of afghanistan next on "andrea mitchell reports." twins. i didn't see them coming. i have obligations. cute obligations, but obligations. i need to rethink the core of my portfolio. what i really need is sleep. introducing the ishares core, building blocks for the heart of your portfolio.

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the country, karzai did not hesitate to blame nato and the united states. >> part of the insecurities from the structures that nato and america created in afghanistan. the private security firms, the contractors promoted at the cost of afghan people and the way they behaved with the afghan people and the anger that that has caused in the afghan people, and the result of insecurity. >> would you say you believe some of these would be intentional insecurity brought by nate to and the united state >> a strong perception some 0 of then security is intentional i yes. >> atia abawi live in kabul and join me now. president karzai did not mince words when it came to nato and the united states, did he? >> reporter: absolutely. chris, he was very loud and

clear. he had strong words throughout the interview, primarily directed towards the united states and president obama, especially when it came to the future relationship between the u.s. and afghanistan. he talked about the strategic partnership that both president obama and karzai signed last spring. he said that the u.s. is in violation of it because they haven't handed over prison detainees from bagram into afghan hands as promised and this hinder is in future partnership with the afghans, and the americans beyond 2014, although he had a lot of strong worpd words when i asked if the sacrifices throughout at 11-year war was worth it, tens of thousands of afghan civilian lives he said in the end it did bring some stability to afghanistan. let's listen to what he had to say. >> it did bring to afghanistan overall stability. it did take back afghanistan to

its international presence. it did bring afghanistan of economic well-being. some profited much more, some did less. but it did not bring security to afghanistan. and, as i said earlier, in parts of the country it made it worse. >> reporter: chris, i also asked him if he trusted the united states' motives in afghanistan and his response was, once bitten, twice shy. >> atia, i want to ask you, too, about a story that's dominated the headlines for the last month or so in the united states, which is general david patreaus. i understand you did ask president karzai about the general? what did he have to say? >> reporter: i did ask him about that. i was interested in what president karzai had to say. he wasn't blunt with his message. he did give us a coded message.

anyone who knows anything about afghanistan and how the afghan officials and many afghans feel about general patreaus' leadership here in afghanistan, it was pretty obvious. president karzai said that when he learned about the scandal, all he could think about united states the ruined vine trees and the lives that suffered in afghanistan during that time, particularly meaning the kandahar offense everybody where homes and farms were demolished, afghan civilians were killed, and he was wondering what david patreaus was doing at that time in kabul. chris? >> terrific reporting atia abawi. thank you for your time. tensions continue to escalate in egypt as the country's army sealed off the presidential palace with barbed wire and armored vehicles after protesters ignored a presidential order to vacate the area. president morsi is scheduled to address the nation later today. nbc's jim maceda is live in cairo. jim, what is the latest on what i know is a fast-moving story?

>> reporter: hi there, chris. president morsi, as you say, was to broadcast a recorded statement on tv about 2 1/2 hours ago. that has not yet happened. he's expected to talk about and explain his moves over the past two weeks, starting with that controversial decree of november 22nd. recall that's the one that gave him the monopoly on power. he's expected, according to the experts here to offer the opposition a way out of the mess, which was floated yesterday by morsi's vice president. it's a compromise where both sides would work on amending those contentious, about 15 contentious articles of draft constitution, bud but they'd both agree on the specific december 15th day for the referendum. right out in both sides are very, very far apart. meanwhile, tense here but a lot calmer, chris, around the presidential palace tonight than it was yesterday at this time. the fighting has eased up, as

you said, there is now republican soldiers, forces, guards, around that presidential palace and every other presidential and palace in this town. we're expecting things to stay calm tonight basically because the muslim brotherhood pulled out of the area earlier today. back to you. >> thanks, jim. now to the deepening crisis in syria. u.s. officials tell nbc news that the syrian military has loaded the precursor chemicals for sarin nerve gas into aerial bombs that could be dropped from dozens of syrian planes. as the fighting intensifies with the rebels closing in on damascus, it's a frightening sign of the regime's desperation. joining me to talk about it, ambassador nicholas burns, former undersecretary of state and ambassador to nato. mr. ambassador, thank you. i want to get your reaction, first, secretary of state clinton held an unscheduled meeting with the russian foreign minister in ireland.

russia has been syria's strong effort ally in all of this. is there anything that can be done to convince russia to pull back their support? >> well, chris, i think that is a pertinent issue right now. this is a dangerous situation, obviously, when there's a -- at least the possibility of the use of chemical weapons by the syrian government or the possibility when that government falls those weapons might not be secure and there are terrorist groups, of course, some quite radical, active in syria. i think secretary clinton was right to meet with the russian foreign minister today. the third person joining that meeting was brahimi, the united nations' diplomat, troubleshooter for syria. i imagine both secretary clinton and mr. brahimi would be lean on the russians to convince assad to leave power. he's finished in syria. there's no way he's going to emerge victorious. the only options for him are to lose and lose his life, most

probability, or leave syria but certainly this civil war now more than 40,000 people dead, and with the latest problem with chemical weapons, the civil war has to be brought to an end. >> now, ambassador, both president obama and secretary of state clinton warned chemical weapons are the red line on syria. i also want to play something that defense secretary leon panetta had to say in reaction to the reports about the preparation of chemical weapons. let play that and talk about what diplomatic options are left. >> the president of the united states made very clear that there will be consequences. there will be conconsequences if the assad regime makes a terrible mistake by using these chemical weapons on their own people. i'm not going to speculate or comment on what those potential consequences would be. >> well, the obvious question is, ambassador, what could those potential consequences be?

what are our options that remain? >> well, first that is a direct warning by the united states government what you just heard, to the syrian government. so that is now on record. obviously it depends how this unfolds. there's no inev viability that e syrian government will choose to use chemical wellens, if they do, there will be pressure on the united states, turkey, collection of coalition of countries intervene to stop the use of chemical weapons. if, chris, in the other scenario rementioned before, the syrian government can no longer control the weapons the last thing in the world we would want to see is this nightmare scenario of a terrorist group with weapons of mass destruction, another possibility that could possibly in the future lead to theent duction of american military forces. the obama administration is right they don't want to go into

syria. they have avoided a u.s. military intervention but chemical weapons changes everything in the calculation. the a divisive and dangerous moment in the syrian civil war. >> it's scary, scary stuff. ambassador, i want to get your take on one other thing. secretary of state clinton had some comments about ambassador rice, someone who is speculated as her successor to secretary and of state. i want to play that for you. >> it's important to remember what susan said was based on the information that had been given to every senior official. in our administration. and she made very clear in her appearances that the information was subject to change, as more facts were gathered and analyzed by the intelligence community and looked, as often the case, our understanding evolved over time. and we've done our best to keep

the american people and the congress informed. that was her goal. >> so obviously, secretary clinton offering a vigorous defense of susan rice, the context obviously being the attacks on benghazi and libya and the republican calls for more information. is there anything to be read from the fact that we have seen both president obama and secretary of state clinton go out of their way in a way to defend susan rice? is there anything we should tea leave read from that fact? >> well, chris, i think the president and secretary of state were right to defend per. these allegations are completely unfounded. they're unfair to her. she is a very talented, very effective, committed public servant. you know you know how those sunday show work when administration officials of either party go on, they're following talking points that the republican or democratic administration, whichever party's in power, has constructed and that's what

susan did that morning. if any other administration official had been on the air that morning they would have said essentially more or less the same thing. i don't think the attacks are fair and she deserves a chance to be considered for any office that the president would like to appoint her to. you've seen a vigorous defense of her by the president and second clinton. i think they're right to do that. >> ambassador nicholas burns, thank you. deal or no deal? two veterans of congress take us behind the scenes of the budget negotiations next on "andrea mitchell reports." ♪ i'd like to thank eating right, whole grain, multigrain cheerios! mom, are those my jeans? [ female announcer ] people who choose more whole grain tend to weigh less than those who don't. multigrain cheerios tend to weigh less than those who don't. sfx- "sounds of african drum and flute" look who's back. again? it's embarrassing it's embarrassing! we can see you carl. we can totally see you. come on you're better than this...all that prowling around.

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david winston, a veteran republican pollster. the thing i'm struck by in the context here, every poll i've seen suggests that you have republicans likely to get more blame. should we put any stock in that kind of polling about the fiscal cliff or do people not know b. enough about it and that's not influencing what's go on between john boehner, president obama, mitch mcconnell and the other folk on the hill? >> they probably have more awareness than some can imagine. but having said that, it not where it is now, it's when you get to the end when people saw what the options were and the choices were, and then they decide who they think either helped or didn't help. that's sort of the critical moment. at this point, i -- the public wanted to see this resolved is where they're at the this point. >> right. and i always say, polling at this point given how little people know about the specifics of what could go into any deal, we don't have a deal, but if we did, may not be worth all that much. go ahead.

>> again, one last thing. that's what's being negotiated at this point what are the specifics that go into it so people can pass judgment on it. >> i want to go to you, we've all been through this before, i feel like this is here we go again. >> here we go again. oh yes. >> all over. >> all over again. >> it feels, to me, the optics -- i hate to use that word -- but looks like we will probably get a deal, boehner come back with a proposal. democrats criticize but they came back with -- >> in a timely fashion. >> -- a proposal in a somewhat timely fashion. you see coburn saying i'd rather have tax rates going poup tom cole saying pass the tax cuts on -- the tax cut extension on the 98%. is there enough there that you think, before december 31st we get there? i know with the caveat we're all

trying to read the tea leaves, from your experience what does it tell us. >> i think the political will is there. you see somebody like coburn, who has been working for over a year with people like heath shuler, democrat from north carolina and mike simpson, you know, put together a letter -- >> of idaho. >> right. not a moderate. we sat in meetings and there was acknowledgement by both sides and that's why you had a letter of 40 republicans and 16 democrats that had revenue and entitlement reform in the letter six months ago. i think it's there. >> dave, let me ask you, quickly, let's say there's a deal. is it possible for a political win to come out of a deal for republicans? >> listen if we get to the successful conclusion that's moving things forward the country wants this resolved, right? being able to get to that resolution as a reflection then that you successfully governed.

yeah, but i suggest that's a win for everybody, not just simply republicans. everybody across the board, we managed to avoid the situation, got to a reasonable conclusion and that's what the country's looking for. >> thank you both fortime. >>, of course. thank you. >> what political story will make headlines in the next 24 hours? that's next on "andrea mitchell reports." ing handcrafted coffees in seattle, and people seemed to like it. so we wondered -- where else could we take this? ♪ for over 40 years, we've brought our passion for fine coffee and espresso to people everywhere. but one place was impossible, until now. our lattes, espresso and brewed coffee, now in your home. the verismo™ system by starbucks.

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so which plitle cal story will make headlines in the next 24 hours? msnbc contributor, washington post editorial writer, best-dresed man in washington, d.c. jonathan kaye part joins me now. it's getting less attention than before the election, but we have the november jobs report out tomorrow. >> right. go figure. you hear all about these numbers in september and october. the november jobs numbers come out tomorrow. remember, a 7.9% in october, 7.8% in september, 8.1% in august. tomorrow we get to find out what the numbers were in november, and whether there are any

revisions up or down on previous job reports. >> president obama not unaware of the report coming out. he's meeting with a family talking about jobs. so not to be -- not terribly surprising. thank you for your time. >> thanks a lot, chris. >> and that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." andrea is back tomorrow, never fear. remember, follow the show online and on twitter. i love andrea's twitter feed particularly during washington redskins games @andreareports. hi, tamron. >> good to see you. in the next hour, call it meet the family. right now president obama is at a home of a middle class family in northern virginia trying to put a face on what he says are the everyday americans who will greatly suffer in republicans don't cave on increasing taxes for the wealthy. we'll have the latest on where talks stand right now, and nbc's

first read team says there is a deal in sight, but the question is, how big? joining me live, ohio congresswoman marcy capfor and new jersey congressman bill pass criminal. he tim geithner says the obama administration is compared to go over the cliff if taxes on the wealthy don't something up. it's our "news nation" gut check. do you agree? [ male announcer ] this december, remember -- you can stay in and share something...

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now with a fancy coating that gives you a burst of wildberry flavor. now why make a flavored heartburn pill? because this is america. and we don't just make things you want, we make things you didn't even know you wanted. like a spoon fork. spray cheese. and jeans made out of sweatpants. so grab yourself some new prilosec otc wildberry. [ male announcer ] one pill each morning. 24 hours. zero heartburn. satisfaction guaranteed or your money back. hi, everyone. i'm tamron hall. the "news nation" is following developing news right now. the president is in northern virginia right now meeting with this middle class family. in fact this is video the white house put together to put more pressure on republicans by humanizing the impact of a tax increase for 98% of americans if a deal the on the fiscal cliff

is not reefed. while negotiations appear to be at a standstill, we know president obama and house speaker john boehner finally spoke by phone yesterday. the first conversation in a week. we don't know what they talked about or how long they spoke, because both men agreed to keep details of the conversation between the two of them. meanti meantime, democrats are digging in heels saying no deem if republicans refuse to let go of tax cuts for the wealthy. >> it's really time for republicans to face reality. i would hope the house of representatives would look closely at what's going on with senators coming out saying please, mr. speaker, do something about protecting the middle class. >> and it appears house republicans are also ready, at least some of them, to give he house speaker boehner more flexibility. "the washington post" reports, quote, many gop centrists and some conservatives call on the house speaker to concede on rates now while he still has some leverage